Links

This is one of the best articles I’ve read on the vertical jump in the last 6 months. So many strength coaches and physical therapists talk about the importance of the glutes, hamstrings, and quads during the vertical jump (which are all extremely important), but fail to mention the ankle-calf complex. This article goes in-depth on the subject, and even gives us a few exercises to incorporate into our program.

Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries in sports. Worse yet, hardly anyone rehabs them long enough to regain full mobility and strength. Here physical therapist Rick Kaselj and Matt Ferguson discuss the ankle sprain in detail, along with exercises to strengthen the ankles.

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Personal trainer Nick T from Performance U gives us 20 different pushup variations/routines. You’ll never have another excuse that you don’t have the right equipment to get a great chest and arms workout. Our favorite: #1

The strength training guru, Charles Poliquin, gives us his top 10 arm extension exercises. If you’re looking for variation in your arm workout, now you have it. There’s enough exercises on this list to keep your body guessing for years.

Charles Poliquin again drops another knowledge bomb on us with this article on training for functional muscle mass. It’s a long, but great read. If you’ve hit a sticking point on the scale, give this article a read, and you’ll blast through it.

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Strength coach Eric Cressey trains athletes everyday. He’s seen his fair share of hamstrings strains. In the article above he gives us 5 different reasons why we may have tight hamstrings. If you’re a female athlete and have tight hamstrings, pay careful attention to reason #1. Get those glutes and core strong!

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The Summer Edition

Who doesn’t want a 6 pack? Personal trainer Dean Somerset gives us a great ab progression. Our favorites: TRX bodysaw, Kneeling Pallof press, and the landmine. Give them a try, and your abs will be screaming in the morning.

Strength coach Charles Poliquin gives us 30 tips to get ripped. Coming from a man who has trained some of the best athletes in the world, it’s a must read when designing your next fatloss program. Our favorites: 1, 2, 5, 14 and 15.

If you’ve haven’t watched Kelly Starrett’s MobilityWoD, you’re missing out on some fantastic mobility exercises that will make you look better, feel better, and play better. In the above article, Kelly gives us 6 mobility exercises that take just 12 minutes to do and are sport specific.

If it’s serious knee pain and acute in nature, see a physical therapist. However, if it’s a nagging knee pain that’s chronic in nature, and you’ve already seen a physical therapist, try a few of these exercises out. You’ll be surprised at the results.

What do we do at Ageless? 1. Foam roll the IT band, quads, glute max, and glute medius 2. Get the glutes firing with quadraped hip extensions and bridges . 3 Focus on the hip hinge pattern. 4. Use exercise that target the VMO – band TKEs and the Peteresen step-up.

One of the greatest sports performance coaches in the U.S., Vern Gambetta, breaks down proper plyometric training, programming, and planning. If you’re performing an unsupervised plyometric program, read all 3 parts of this article to get the most out of your program. By the end , you’ll be able to design an awesome plyometric program.

How do you get 6 pack abs without hurting your lower back? Dr. McGill shows us a few great exercises in the video above. Try weighted side planks and the stir the pot exercise for a humbling experience.

Jim Wendler, creator of the 5/3/1 program and former powerlifter, doesn’t have much time to train anymore. Between his business and family, the days of spending 2 hours in the gym every day are long gone.. It doesn’t look like it’s had any negative effect on his body. In the article above, he details his 2 day per week workout. If you are crunched for time, give this workout a try.

One of my favorite strength coaches gives us a quick routine that will change things up a bit. If you’re stuck in your current routine, give this a try for a few weeks, and then jump back into your old routine. Not only will it train muscles you probably don’t even know you have, but it will refresh your batteries so you can break big records when you go back to your old routine.

I hate diets. I have an extremely hard time sticking to them. However, I’ve had the most success (results and duration) with carb cycling. In fact, it’s the only “diet” I use. Anymore, carbs are about the only macronutrient I pay attention to. Here’s a quick article on how to set up carb cycling.

Once again, Jason Ferruggia drops another great article on getting bigger and stronger. I’d highly suggest you review his 23 points, and make sure you are abiding by them. The guy knows what he is talking about.